POP Market Outlook As Automotive Sector To Take The Major Share Credit

Plating on Plastics (POP) industry has generated a decent momentum over the past few years with automotive industry taking a major share credit. Plastics play an important role in vehicle design, topping the vehicle differentiation criteria, an obvious reason for OEMs to contribute heavily towards the POP market share. Moreover, the aesthetic appeal of the vehicles in notably influencing the buying probability of the automobiles, which has further led to enhance the POP industry. According to Global Market Insights, Inc. “Plating on plastics (POP) market is projected to surpass a revenue of USD 649 million by 2023.” Plating on plastics further imparts the vehicles with corrosion and wear resistant properties, which will expand its application area in the automotive sector.

The expanding polymer industry and its growing use in automobile sector will also generate heavy growth opportunities for the POP market players. Polymers which account for almost 15-20% of the overall car weight, play a vital role in determining the vehicle efficiency, making the manufacturers to deploy high-performance and lightweight polymers in the vehicles. ABS, which is the predominant polymer used in plastic plating, attained a revenue of USD 265 million in 2015. Also, ABS/PC, another prominent polymer in the POP market is estimated to register the highest annual growth rate of 6.8% over the period of 2016-2023.

In addition to this, the growing emphasis on curtailing the carbon emissions via automobiles will also expand the POP industry outlook over the coming years. Light-weight vehicles are appraised to perform better in terms of efficiency and lesser carbon emissions, which will increase the adoption of POP by the manufacturers. As per the study, in 2015, automotive applications accounted for approximately 80% of the POP industry share, leading the application landscape. The trend is likely to continue with the increasing use of plastic plating not only by the OEMs, but also to a decent extent by the aftermarket.

Asia Pacific is slated to emerge as a prominent region participating in the plating on plastics market growth. Expanding automotive industry in APAC and favorable regional regulations will draw the attention of the manufacturers to extend their regional base in APAC countries. China, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia are likely to lead the regional POP industry share. Asia Pacific plating on plastics market size is estimated to exhibit a CAGR of 7% over the period of 2016-2023.

Europe POP industry, on account of the presence of giant OEMs such as BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Renault, etc., is poised to witness a substantial growth over the coming six years. UK and Germany are projected to be the major revenue pockets for Europe.

Plating on plastics (POP) industry is on the verge of a major drift, based on the regulations imposed regarding the use of chrome based plating. September 21, 2017 has been set as the sunset date by REACH to eliminate the use of chromium trioxide. The major industry players such as Dow Electronic Materials, Enthone, etc. are taking measures towards developing alternatives to offer plating solutions optimizing the aesthetic appeal and corrosion resistance of the vehicles. For instance, Dow Electronic Materials has developed ECOPOSIT™ CF-800 chromium-free etch, abiding by the regulatory norms set by REACH.

POP industry is poised to see interesting developments over the coming years, with its likely stepping in the specialty chemicals market. The market players are likely to enter into strategic collaborations with the specialty chemicals manufacturers to reduce the raw material cost and enable backward integration process. The market is highly fragmented with Bolta Werke, SRG Global, Sarrel Group, and Xinpoint accounting for the top players. An intense competition is on the cards over the coming years, with chemical and process providers sharing the POP business space.

About the Author: Shikha currently manages the content development at Global Market Insights, Inc. An electrical & electronics engineer by education, she has prior experience in content & technology writing, content marketing, market research, and business development domains. Her other areas of interest include sketching, reading, and singing.